The Geography Blog focusing on all things geography: human, physical, technical, space, news, and geopolitics. Also known as Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze!
Written by a former National Geographic employee who also proudly served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Friday, January 08, 2010

Text on Flags

Flags represent more than just a country. They represent the values, history, and people and can, when accepted by the population, be a truly national symbol. Words can be used to express a values on a flag just like colors, patterns, and symbols. Due to the previous required work needed to make a flag in the past, text generally do not appear on flags though. However, some states have used words to express themselves on their flags. There are four categories of text on flags: national mottos, religion,geolocation, and history.

National Mottos

Andorra: The motto on the coat-of-arms stresses a Catholic corporatist culture with "Virtus Unita Fortior" meaning "United Virtue is Stronger."Belize: "Sub Umbra Floreo" on the coat of arms translate to "Under the shade I flourish"

Brazil: The flag combines the monarchies color's with a more contemporary republican motto of "Ordem e Progresso" meaning "Order and Progress."Dominican Republic: Besides its Spanish name, the flag's coat of arms stresses the values of God, Country (fatherland), and LibertyEquatorial Guinea: This Spanish-speaking African republic's motto "Unidad, Paz y Justicia" means "Unity, Peace, and Justice."Haiti: "L'Union Fait La Force" means "Unity Makes Strength." Haiti is not a strong country.Malta: This former Knight-state prizes its past and British World War II medal honor phrase of "For Gallantry" which is on the George CrossSpain: The Spanish prize their early explorations to the New World and push themselves towards the future with "Plus Ultra" meaning "Further Beyond."

Religious

Afghanistan: The modern flag of Afghanistan is the former monarchy flag with "Afghanistan" spelled at the bottom with the addition of the shahada, the Muslim profession of faith.Iran: The white text in the green and red spells out Allah-u-Akbar meaning God is greatIraq: The flag has Allah-u-Akbar on it as well. The text was once in Saddam's hand writing but changed to a general font to de-Baathify the flag.Saudi Arabia: Also has the shahada*Somaliland: The unrecognized but in control republic has the shahada

Geolocation

El Salvador: Citizens are never lost as the Spanish-language sentence says the Republic of El Salvador in Central America.Nicaragua: Nicaragua also states it's existence in Central America

History

Guatemala: No one forgets that liberty was achieved on September 15, 1821 because that's what the Spanish-language document says on the flag.